About the Comic

Right Now Every week I come up with ideas inspired by friends, manatees and the world around me, and I draw them out with pen and colored pencil. I scan them in and set each week’s comic to publish at one minute past midnight, central US time, and that’s how it gets to your screen.

The Beginning The first comic is inspired by a video of a manatee nibbling a diver’s hand, the first video I had ever seen of a manatee (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzGSAs3dcTI). The name “Man versus Manatee” was a name that I gave to that single illustration, which became the title of a series of comics as I came up with more and more ideas.

At first, I showed the comics only to my family and closest friends, because I did not yet have a way to share them more efficiently. I hand-drew each illustration (and still do) with colored pencils and fine-tip pens, uploading them as image files with whatever scanner is available.

When I posted the first few comics on Facebook, my friends immediately encouraged me to make more, but also encouraged me to find a way of sharing them more efficiently. This is when a friend, Erty Seidel, offered to host my comic in his domain. A combination of his generosity and his own experience with the production of webcomics (http://ertyseidel.com/comics/) got the site on its feet in no time at all. Having little experience with the Internet in general, I am certain that “Man versus Manatee” would not exist today without his help.

The Purpose Each comic takes two or more hours to plan and create, giving me plenty of time to ask myself why I am producing a weekly, manatee-themed webcomic. I recognize that a great number of people who work with the manatee would cite its dire state of near-extinction when asked why they do what they do, but my answer has its focus elsewhere.

Living in southeastern Wisconsin, I have never had the chance to see a manatee up-close. My only connection with the sirenians is through pictures, videos and books. When I see a manatee, I don’t see a suffering animal but an adorable, round, gluttonous, water-dwelling mammal. When I research the manatee, I am overwhelmed by the negativity surrounding it, constant talk of boat collisions, threats to their environment and the careless actions of humans. This perspective is certainly important to the manatee’s conservation, but where is the other side? What can I do to cause people to relate to the manatee, to love it and see what I see at every encounter? So I find my comic has a purpose, to focus on the manatee’s relatability, humanity and infinite ability to make people smile.

With my comic’s purpose in mind, I have created a small set of rules for myself, to keep my comics positive and focused:

1. No comics that could otherwise be told using humans (there must always be a manatee element)

2. No humans (this comic belongs to the manatee)

3. No propellor jokes (I made a joke about a propellor joke once, and that was enough)

4. Must be hand-drawn

About the Manatee
(and other creatures)

This page will expand as I compile more information on the manatee and other creatures that appear in my comic.

Aquatic Mammals of the Order Sirenia (Sirenians), Including the Now Extinct Steller’s Sea Cow

The Order Sirenia and Its Current State

Steller’s sea cow, Hydrodamalis gigas, is extinct. Humankind managed to wipe out the relict population of possibly 2,000 of these giants in just under 30 years in the late 1700s; twentieth-century technology must be far more efficient. Numbers of dugongs (Dugong dugon) throughout their Indo-Pacific marine range are not endangered in the current sense of the word, but they have diminished in many areas and today are absent in others where once they were known, even abundant. Trichechus inunguis, the Amazonian manatee, has been referred to as the most endangered Sirenian owing to its remote habitat and to relentless human pressures upon the population. The West African manatee, T. senegalensis, is diminishing in numbers, but so little is known about them that definitive statements are impossible at this time. The West Indian manatee, T. manatus, recently has been the subject of intense scrutiny; it should be, with only an estimated 14,000 remaining in its total range. Of these, 1,800 or less of the Florida manatee subspecies (T.m. latirostris) survive within U.S. waters, and those only in coastal waters from Texas through Florida. Without doubt the sea cow is the most endangered of aquatic mammals.

Political and technical conservation efforts currently range from legislation and sanctuaries to propeller guards and flood-control-gate protective equipment. But no measures will accomplish more than will public awareness of the plight of the manatee. Destroying or saving 60 million years of evolution is in our hands.

-Quoted from the epilogue of Introducing the Manatee, a book by Warren Zeiller, 1992

-Information derived from Introducing the Manatee, Zeillor, 1992

Anatomy of a Manatee

Some Helpful Visual Comparisons

Left: Sea Lion, Right: Seal

Top: Porpoise, Bottom: Dolphin

Top: Beluga, Bottom: Narwhal

1, 2, 3: Squid, 4, 5: Octopuses

Left: Cuttlefish, Right: Squid

A Threat of Invisibility One of the manatee’s closest relatives is the elephant; we would be heartbroken if we were responsible for bringing about the elephant’s extinction, but the manatee seems invisible in comparison. Unlike the elephant, the manatee cannot be found in a box of animal crackers or in a toddler’s animal vocabulary. So I find it is my responsibility as the artist and creator of “Man versus Manatee” to increase the visibility and relatability of the sirenians.

Sharing Please enjoy and share my webcomic (and with it, the manatee), because that is all that I am asking you to do. When you share my comic, it is less important that you include my name and more important that you include the name of the comic and its address (http://manvsmanatee.com). Every time you share “Man versus Manatee,” I’m sure the manatee is just as thankful as I am. Thank you for reading.

Yay tee shirts i have to get 1…. or 2 :)!!!! Also i live in Washington state and I vacationed to Florida this summer and on a boat tour i saw a mother manatee calf. It was awesome. Thanks for putting the happiness into my mondays! 😉

oh also do you happen to know exactly where in your website we can buy the t-shirts? because i am getting 1 no matter what!! 😀 So anyway is it going to be like a tab on the home page or something. Sorry if i am being impatient i just love your work so much!

I’m impatient for t-shirts, too, but I’m a college student who hasn’t had a whole lot of time to focus on the comic lately. I’m SO eager to get moving on t-shirts, and I think I will have them under a tab of their own. Believe me, you’re not the only one who can’t wait to wear cute manatees. 🙂

Hey, Rachel, can you try to get some t-shirts in Canada? I NEED ONE!!! You know, along with my other manatee t-shirt but that is beside the point! Can you put that strip with the manatee and Posiden on one?

When making a comment, you will have to enter an email. Beside the email box there is a link that reads “get a gravatar”. Click it, and follow the website instructions. You will need to wait five minutes after making an account for the picture to appear on “man vs manatees” comments.

I love love love Man vs Manatee with ALL my heart and hope that it makes newspapers some day! It deserves a whole book of strips from the archives! Rachel, you NEED to make a book! I would run to my local bookstore with all my savings (being in school I don’t have that much $$) if a book with Man vs Manatee strips came out in Canada! You have a big heart, a strong mind and you use it well! Keep it up!
-Kitty Chan
P.S: I know i really don’t have to put my name at the end but its a long comment so why not make it like a letter or an email?

Hey, Rachel! You made a drawing of a manatee family a while ago, and I was wondering if I have your permission to have it made into a vinyl sticker for the back of my car? I LOVE manatees and think the style of your illustrations bring forth their kind gentle nature. I am the chick who suggested Wonder Womanatee to you, as I use “her” as a reminder to myself to not only be kinder and stand up for what is right, but to love my rather manatee shaped body. I have a guy on etsy in mind to make the stickers. If you let me go through with this, it might be a boon to you as well so you can then sell the car stickers on here. I know a lot of us LOVE your art (I was one of the lucky ones to “score” a shirt when they were sold). Once I get the car sticker, the guy could simply make you up more of them to re-sell. RSVP here or to my email which I gave you privately and let me know what you think & if I can use the image. 🙂 Thanks.